Former US President Donald Trump has won the 2024 Iowa caucuses, multiple US networks projected on Monday night.
These include CBS News, The New York Times, NBC News and CNN.
Later projections indicated that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley finished third. Both had hoped to achieve some momentum heading into future races.
Other candidates on the ballot are businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
NBC News estimated there will be about 130,000 caucusgoers, which is a lower turnout than expected.
DeSantis' campaign was quick to criticize the national media for declaring Trump’s victory before the Iowa Caucuses were even over.
"It is absolutely outrageous that the media would participate in election interference by calling the race before tens of thousands of Iowans even had a chance to vote," DeSantis’ communications director Andrew Romeo said. "The media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet."
Iowa is an uneven predictor of who will ultimately win the Republican presidential nomination. George W. Bush won Iowa in 2000, marking the last time a Republican candidate won in Iowa and went on to become the party’s nominee.
Trump lost Iowa to Ted Cruz in 2016 and ultimately won the Republican nomination and the presidential election.
Iowa Democrats are not holding a contest on Monday after the Democratic National Committee decided to move the state later in the primary calendar.